Eliud Kipchoge sets new marathon world record

Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record during the Berlin Marathon on Sunday.

The 33-year-old clocked 2hrs 1min 39sec to break the previous record, which was held by his fellow countryman Dennis Kimetto, by 1 minute and 17 seconds.

Reflecting on his achievement, Kipchoge said that he is extremely happy and not surprised with the feat as he had worked really hard for the same.

"My only words are 'Thank you! I was prepared to run my own race early so I wasn't surprised to be alone. I have trained so well for this race and have full trust in the programmes of my coach," News.com.au quoted Kipchoge, as saying.

"I am just so incredibly happy to have finally run the world record as I never stopped having belief in myself," he added.

While the second position in the Berlin Marathon was claimed by Amos Kipruto of Kenya with a clock timing of 2:06:03, Wilson Kipsang from the same country settled for the third position with a timing of 2:06:48.

Kipchoge had made his marathon debut in 2013 after a successful track career during which he won a gold (2003) and silver medal (2007) in 5000m and an Olympic silver (2008) and bronze (2004) in the same event.